I opened by eyes. Or were they already open?
The air smelled moist - almost like petrichor, the smell of the earth after a soft rain. But where was I? I could see nothing, just a blackness. Nothingness. No objects. I could not even see my limbs in front of me.
*Snapped finers*
Out of thin air, appeared a dark figure. Every neuron in my mind fired all at once, driven by that deeper and darker place, the reptilian brain. My hairs stood up. My pupils dialated. I wanted to yell, and opened my mouth, my tounge anchoring to the bottom of my mouth, allowing for the sounds of my yelling to fill the space.
Yet nothing came out of my throat. Instead, the fear response transitioned, and I took three steps backward quickly, placed my hands in front of my body, almost falling back.
"Now, now," the figure said slyly, "there's nothing to be afraid of here. I don't bite."
It took a few more seconds for me to begin to have more control over my speech, and for the blood to return to the upper part of my brain. Stuttering, gutteral sounds began to appear out of my mouth.
"W....Wh...Who...Who are you?!?"
I asked.
"And where am I? What is this place?"
The smell of panic overtook the room like hot air.
"Where you are is rather hard to describe. You are here, yet you are everywhere. You are at a place some may call mystical, some may call spiritual. It goes by many names, and has been described by many people over long periods of time. Yet not many have visited. Which is rather strange, now that I think about it."
"Please," I asked, "I don't know what you're talking about."
I looked at the figure again, and back around me, somewhere, into the eclipsing darkeness around me.
"The last thing I remember was being at home, my wife and dog asleep in the other room. And then"
"I'm not sure, I just, ended up here. I must be dreaming. Why, I want to wake up. Maybe stiffing my body or breathing loud will help me to get up." I stiffened by body and just as I was about to start breathing, the shadow raised his hand, in a concilliatory gesture.
"Now now, relax, all that may only make you constipated. Let me help you out. I am inside you, yet I also lie within others. I also live within other things."
The small amount of intrigue was not enough to overcome the panic, but realizing that I was probably dreaming, I began to consciously calm myself. "Let me play along for a bit," I thought to myself. "And if I get bored or anything weird start to happen, I'll simply wake myself up".
"You lie inside me, and lie within others. And other things" I say out loud, beginning to step around the being in front of me. "Sounds to me like you are saying that you are a part of me, but also a part of other humans and maybe even inanimate objects."
The being brought up it's index finger in front of it's face, teasingly chuckling and turning it's head at a light angle. "No, I said other things. That does not mean inanimate objects".
"Okay so non-humans then." Bringing its finger down and opening its palms. "Yes, you could say that."
"Hmmm," I look to the side, "perhaps a virus? A parasite?"
"No, not something that comes from the outside, but something you're born with. Something that is a part of you from the onset."
"Bacteria? They are part of us aren't they.
"Yes, they are, but think deeper. Something even less external. More a part of you."
"Our DNA?"
"You're on the right track," it said teasingly. But you're thinking more in the realm of biology. Bring it down on a notch on the objectiveness scale. Make it a little more artsy. A notch more metaphysical, perhaps, but don't tell anyone I said that." "Less objective than biology? Perhaps sociology? Psychology?" "Ring, ring, ring, ring" it mentioned. "Psychology is correct, though it may also align with sociology. All subjects are different lenses of seeing a concept, but we will stick to psychology." I wanted to wake up, and to leave, but I was interested. As always, I was anxious and skeptical, but I pressed on, confident that I was safe in my dream.
"I don't know," I said, pressing my lips together. "How about you tell me what you are?"
"Okay, okay, tired of the detective work" it said. "I am power."













